Seven Staffordshire councils will be replaced by one larger authority providing services to the south of the county, it has been revealed.

The new unitary council will cover Stafford Borough, East Staffordshire Borough, Cannock Chase District, Lichfield District, South Staffordshire District and South Staffordshire District, which have a combined population of more than 680,000 people.

A new northern Staffordshire council will provide services to more than 490,000 people living in Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle Borough and Staffordshire Moorlands.

The Government's decision on the creation of the two new councils means that Staffordshire County Council and eight district and borough authorities will be axed in 2028.

The Government's announcement coincided with Thursday's full meeting of Staffordshire County Council.

Cllrs were allowed 30 minutes to give their views on the announcement and it will be discussed further by the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday (28 July).

Council leader Martin Murray told Thursday's meeting new northern Staffordshire authority was set to have 84 elected members, while its southern Staffordshire counterpart was proposed to have 92. Staffordshire County Council previously put forward a proposal for an east/west split of the area which has not been taken forward by the Government.

Cllr Murray said: "The Government have announced it, and now they go and break up for the summer.

"We were told to play their game, so we followed and played by their rules and came up with the best financial option and choices as stipulated by their rules.

"I still call foul because it doesn't represent Staffordshire.

"They set out rules but kept changing them.

"It started out as 500,000 (population per new authority area) then they said you can have lower.

"I only wish we had VAR to go back and look at the changes, because they have changed it from a Devolution White Paper into pure political mapping in some parts of this country.

"But we do have a serious amount of work now ahead; whether you want this or not, whether you agree or not, becomes a moot point because it is happening.

"It is being forced upon us and therefore we have a duty to deliver so no resident, business or environment in this county gets hurt or damaged because of this process happening."

Cllr Philip White, leader of the county council's opposition group, said: "It has no democratic mandate at all in Staffordshire.

"A public consultation on which of the options you do not want, with no option to stay the same, is not democratic.

"I agree with Cllr Murray that the most important thing we have to do is be responsible and put the interests of our residents first – even if the Labour Government has chosen not to do that.

"We need to work together on this and we need to work with our colleagues on Stoke-on-Trent City Council and our districts and boroughs to try and make this change that has been forced upon us happen in the way that has the least negative impact on our residents.

"The detail at the moment is scant unfortunately in terms of the ministerial statement, so now we will have six weeks where our MPs can scuttle away and hide.

"But we need to ask those questions and I think we need to get on the front foot with this.

"The timetable for this is vanishingly short.

"We talk a lot in this chamber about all the challenges we have in our day to day business and we are heaping this on top of it."

Speaking at Tuesday's Stafford Borough Council meeting (21 July), council leader Aidan Godfrey said: "I'm pleased to report the submission by Stafford Borough Council, East Staffordshire Borough Council and Cannock Chase District Council was accepted by the Government in full.

"I'm also pleased to inform you Stafford Borough's boundaries will remain as they are now – I know that was a concern to many of us, so that's excellent news.

"It's of course very sad that after over 50 years Stafford Borough Council is being replaced. Many of us would like to see it continue, but the Government has ruled it will be abolished and the new southern Staffordshire authority will now replace us as the best option, providing vital services to the public in our borough.

"There is much to do for our professional officers over the next 18 months and members will be kept fully informed as to the progress.

"Elections for the new authority will be held in May 2027 and it will shadow Stafford Borough Council until vesting day in May 2028.

"There will be no elections at Stafford Borough Council in May 2027 and the council will be extended by one year, until May 2028.

"I would like to make a personal thank you to everybody in this chamber on all sides for supporting this submission – it was very strong that the whole council supported it."

Cannock Chase Council's leader Paul Jones announced the new authority to fellow cabinet members at their meeting on Thursday.

He said: "Work will start now for the next year, before the election in May 2027.

"There will be a lot of meetings and things going on in the background.

"We have to embrace what has been decided by Government."

Cllr Mandy Bell, Resources and Corporate Services Portfolio Leader, said: "I don't think it is good news for residents of Cannock Chase.

"I feel Cannock will get lost within a large pile of a bigger agenda – I don't feel we are going to be able to deliver objectives for the people of Cannock Chase."